The PGA Tour has acquired minority stake in the European Tour’s media production company as part of an alliance that could be the start of a global golf schedule.
The alliance announced Friday allows the PGA Tour and European Tour to collaborate on commercial opportunities, global media rights in certain territories and scheduling.
As part of the arrangement, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan will join the European Tour board.
Golf executives of talked about a global schedule for more than a decade, and finding a solution has not been easy given the independence of both tours.
The PGA Tour said it has acquired a minority investment stake in European Tour Productions, which produces and distributes European Tour content around the world.
The announcement comes toward the end of a devastating year financially for the tours because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The PGA Tour, which shut down for three months, has played every week except this one since June 8.
The European Tour resumed in July with a series of new tournaments with small prize funds – most of them not more than 1 million euros, compared with about $7 million on the PGA Tour.